Bach composed Cantatas for the bicentennial anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, which was celebrated in Leipzig in 1730, since it was one of the last bastions of Lutheran Orthodoxy, before the evils of Pietism overran nearly all of orthodox Lutheranism in Germany. Here are the texts from his Cantatas. Sadly, the music has been lost, which was what Bach composed, but here are the texts he chose to go along with the music he had written. Apparently, it was a three day festival, so Bach wrote at least three Cantatas, one for each day.

BWV 190a Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied!

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The Bicentennial of the Augsburg Confession.

Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander), Ernst-Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte, Teil III (Leipzig, 1732); Facs: Neumann T, p. 333; Reprint: Sicul, Annales Lipsienses, Sectio XXXVII (1731) and Das Jubilierende Leipzig (1731).

1. Ps. 149:1, 150:4 and 6; Martin Luther, beginning of the German Te Deum, 1529 (Wackernagel, III, #31); 2. Martin Luther, the same text with interpolated recitative; 7. Martin Luther, verse 3 of “Es woll uns Gott genädig sein,” 1524 (Wackernagel, I, #189).

25 June 1730, Leipzig; Parody: 1, 2, 3, 5 <— BWV 190.

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1. Chorus (= BWV 190/1.)

2. Chorale and Recit.

Lord God, we give thee praise,
God, that thou both our shield
And our redeemer art.
Lord God, we give thee thanks.
Triumphant shall we go forth
And seek now, Lord, thy countenance,
For thy dear grace extends
As far as heaven’s breadth,
And thine own truth sheds light
As far as clouds are ranging.
Lord God, we give thee praise
That still thy brilliant light
Within our land doth shine.
O God, how great is this thy kindness,
Which doth such faith to all thy children show!
Forget that loving disposition,
My Zion, yea, forget it not!
Lord God, we give thee praise.

3. Aria

Honor, Zion, this thy God,
Praise him greatly for his name’s sake.
Rise! Proclaim it, ponder well
What the Lord for us hath done;
Therefore pray before him now,
Glorify his teaching’s harvest.

4. Recit.

Lord, if thine Evangel’s word,
That heav’nly teaching,
Had not supplied our consolation,
We had by woe and death
Been leveled to the ground.
That is our bread of life,
That is our spirit’s strength,
That doth our soul refreshment bring,
And it with blessedness restore.
Here is true righteousness, the shield of faith,
Which but ‘fore God in heav’n has weight.

5. Aria

Blessed are we through the word,
Blessed are we through the doctrine,
Blessed are we here and there,(1)
Blessed, if our faith be steadfast.
Blessed, if we not alone
Hearers, rather, doers be.

6. Recit.

Now God, we offer thee
Our lips’ reward for this,
We, all we who by thine own names
have named us,(2)
And Christ, who is thy Son, acknowledge.
Take henceforth in thy care thy church,
That it as on that rock
Be more and more established firmly.
Make larger this thy flock so tiny,
Within thy hand stand pow’r and might.

7. Chorale

Now thank, O God, and give thee praise,
The people in their good works.
The land bears fruit and mends its ways,
Thy word is made to prosper.
Us bless the Father and the Son,
And bless us God the Holy Ghost,
Whom all the world doth glorify,
To him pay rev’rence unexcelled;
Now say sincerely “Amen.”

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1. “Here and there” probably refers to the contemporary and original adherents to the Augsburg Confession.

2. It may well be that deinen is a misprint for deinem, in which case translate “by thine own name.”

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© Copyright  Z. Philip Ambrose

BWV 120b Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille

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Bicentennial of the Augsburg Confession.

Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander), Ernst-Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte, Teil III (Leipzig, 1732); Reprint: Sicul,Annales Lipsienses, Sectio XXXVIII, 1731, and Das Jubilierende Leipzig, 1731; Facs: Neumann T, p. 333.

1. Ps. 65:2; 6. Martin Luther, verse 3 of “Komm, Heiliger Geist, Heere Gott,” 1524 (Wackernagel, I, #199).

26 June 1730, Leipzig; Parody: 1, 2, 4 <— BWV 120/1, 2, 4.

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On the Second Day of the Festival

1. (Arioso) [Dictum]

God, we praise thee now in the stillness of Zion, and thee we pay our solemn pledges.

2. Aria

Pay, O Zion, all thy pledges,
Pay the vows to God on high.(1)
Now thy hope doth serve thee well,
Source and fountains are still pure;
His steadfastness
Builds and lays a new foundation
For his name’s great fame and house.

Da Capo.

3. Recit.

Ah! Thou the city loved of God,
May God by thee yet further stand,
Thy hearth and altar and thy fire
Are in great danger and oppressed;
So for thine own sake watch with care.
Be firm in faith and waver not
As though a mere broken reed, as though a fading light.
Maintain the hope of thy confession:
God is steadfast
Who sealed it with his pledge.

4. Aria

True and faithful,
Never falt’ring in distress,
True in living, true in death,
Must be real Christians always,
That they after welcome dying
Of true life the crown inherit.

Da Capo.

5. Recit.

Rise up, thou sacred congregation,(2)
Now act true to thy word
And hasten more and more
To kindness, to the works of goodness,
That all who now oppose thee
Thy covenant
And its true word’s foundation firm
In service of the town may witness.

6. Chorale

O thou holy flame, comfort sweet,
Now help us, joyful and content,
To bide forever in thy service,
That sadness may not disperse us;
O Lord, through thy might us prepare;
Make strong the weakness of our flesh,
That we here gallantly struggle
Through death and life to reach thy presence.
Alleluia, alleluia.

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1. This text is closer than that of BWV 120/2 to the sense of the first movement.

2. Gemeinde = ‘community’ or ‘congregation.’ In Bach’s Leipzig the two were virtually one. The last line of this recitative contains the word Gemeinschaft ‘community.’ For metrical reasons it is here translated with “town.”

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© Copyright  Z. Philip Ambrose

XVIb (BWV Anh. 4) Wünschet Jerusalem Glück

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Third Day of the Jubilee of the 200th Anniversary of the Augsburg Confession (27 June 1730).

Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander), Ernst-Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte, Teil III (Leipzig, 1732); Facs: Neumann T, p. 334; Reprint in Sicul, Annales Lipsienses, Sectio XXXVIII (1731) and Das Jubilierende Leipzig (1731).

1. Ps. 122:6-7; 6. based on Philipp Melanchthon’s German version of Vespera iam venit, 1579.

27 June 1730, Leipzig; Parody: <— XVIa (BWV Anh. 4).

[NBA I/24, Krit. Bericht.]

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Am III. Jubel-Tage

[1.] Ps. 122 v. 6 & 7.

Wünschet Jerusalem Glück. Es müsse wohl gehen, denen, die dich lieben. Es müsse Friede seyn inwendig in deinen Mauern, und Glück in deinen Pallästen.

[2.] Aria

Rühm und lobe, sing und preise,
Du erwehlte Gottes Stadt.
Weil die Lehre, die dich führt,
Selbst aus Gottes Munde rührt,
Die väterliche Weise
Unter uns erhalten hat.

Da Capo.

[3. Recit.]

Hier ist des Herren Tempel;
Was scheuen wir der Feinde Spott,
Hier redet Gott, hier wohnet Gott,
Hier ist das Licht des Lebens aufgesteckt:
Hier ist der Grund der Seeligkeit:
Das Hertze gläubt,
Der Mund bekennet allezeit
Daß Jesus unser Heyland bleibt,
Daß er vom Todten auferweckt.
Also bekennen wir!
Wer darnach thut, der lebet für und für.

[4.] Aria

Herr, erhöre, was wir bitten,
Baue ferner Davids Hütten,
Daß dein Zion dieser Tag
Offt zum Jauchzen reitzen mag.
Verherrliche, Höchster, bey unseren Saamen,
Die Ehre von deinem geheiligten Nahmen.

[5.] Recit.

Gib Herr, dein Wort den frommen Christen
Mit Schaaren der Evangelisten
Und suche deinen Weinberg heim,
Daß deines Wortes Honigseim
Die müden Seelen mög erqvicken (sic).
Steh deiner kleinen Heerde bey,
Und laß durch keine Ketzerey
Die Reinigkeit der Kirchen unterdrücken.
Wenn unsre Schwachheit dich betrübt,
Wenn unser Hertz dich nicht vollkommen liebt,
Herr, so verstoß uns nicht
Von deinem Angesicht.

[6.] Choral

Ach bleib bey uns, Herr Jesu Christ, weil es nun Abend worden ist, etc.

On the Third Day of the Jubilee

1. [Dictum] Chorus(1)

Pray for Jerusalem’s peace; and may good fortune attend all them who love thee; and may repose and peace be dwelling within thy towers and happiness in thy mansions.

2. Aria

Laud and honor, sing and praise him,
Thou elected city of God.
For the teaching which thee leads
From God’s very mouth proceeds
And in paternal fashion
In our midst is kept alive.

Da Capo.

3. Recit.

Here is the Lord’s own temple;
Why should we fear the foe’s contempt?
Here speaketh God, here dwelleth God,
Here is the light of life set forth to all;
Here is the root of blessedness:
The heart believes,
The mouth proclaimeth ceaselessly
That Jesus will our Savior bide,
That he from death hath been awaked.
This is what we confess!
Who lives by this will live forevermore.

4. Aria

Lord, now hearken to our prayer,
Build still further David’s mansions,
That thy Zion by this day
Oft with triumph may be stirred.
O glorify, Highest, among all our offspring
The honor which comes from thy name ever hallowed.

5. Recit.

Give, Lord, thy word to righteous Christians
With legions of evangel voices,
And visit now thy vineyards here,
That by thy word’s own honey pure
The weary souls may have refreshment.
Stay by thy little flock alway
And never let through heresy
The Church’s purity yield to suppression.
Whene’er our weakness thee doth grieve,
Whene’er our hearts thee not completely love,
Lord, do not drive us yet
From thy dear countenance.

6. Chorale

Oh, bide with us, Lord Jesus Christ,
For now the evening is at hand,
Thy godly word, that radiant light,
Let in our midst, yea, never fade.(2)

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1. The designation “Chorus” is assumed from XVIa (PT, 1741).

2. In lieu of a complete text to this chorale in the PT, the translation is based upon BWV 6/3.

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© Copyright Z. Philip Ambrose